April 2023 Summaries

Vantage has introduced a self-service feature for configuring Single Sign-On (SSO) using SAML, enabling users to set up and manage their SSO connections without needing assistance from Vantage support. This update allows users to seamlessly and securely connect to their Vantage accounts, offering greater autonomy and reducing the time and potential errors associated with previous methods that required support intervention. Users can now manage their SAML-based SSO configurations directly from the Authentication section in their account settings, with the ability to add, remove, enable, or disable SSO connections. The feature supports all SAML 2.0 providers, including popular ones like Okta, and allows for the automatic provisioning of new users as Editors upon their first login. While multiple email domains can be configured through support assistance, only a single SSO provider can be set up per account at this time. Existing SSO configurations will remain unchanged, and users are encouraged to test configurations to ensure seamless login experiences.

Exposing a billing API for usage-based SaaS companies is essential for providing customers with access to their cost data, but it presents numerous challenges and considerations. Each cloud service provider, such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, offers varying methods for accessing billing data, each with its own level of complexity and data freshness. Billing data is unique, not quite fitting into traditional financial or engineering metrics, and is often overwritten rather than append-only. Key considerations in developing a billing API include managing data cardinality, handling upfront commitments, credits, and discounts, and ensuring proper authentication and data transfer capabilities. The implementation must also account for data size and how customers will access this information, with examples from MongoDB, Snowflake, and AWS illustrating different approaches. Despite the complexities, providing transparent access to billing data is beneficial for customers and aligns with the trend of integrating finance and engineering in cloud environments.

Vantage has launched support for tracking and visualizing OpenAI costs, allowing users to manage their AI expenses alongside other infrastructure costs. This new feature enables Vantage customers to integrate multiple OpenAI organizations and view detailed cost reports by operation, model, and organization. The integration uses an API key to access OpenAI's "Usage" API endpoint, although this endpoint is currently undocumented, leading to approximate cost data. OpenAI costs are now represented in the Vantage console and refresh daily, with users able to receive notifications for cost anomalies. This feature is available in beta, allowing Vantage to refine the integration as OpenAI improves its API documentation.

Vantage has introduced a new feature called saved filters, which allows users to save and reuse filter logic across multiple Cost Reports, enhancing efficiency for FinOps teams. Previously, users had to manually replicate filter logic for each report, but now, filters can be managed from a centralized location, enabling automatic updates across all associated reports when changes are made. This feature supports combining saved filters with ad-hoc filters for more complex reporting needs and is available to all users, including those on the free tier. Saved filters are confined to a single workspace, and while they cannot currently be used within segments or reverted to previous versions, users can duplicate existing filters and see who created them. The initiative is designed to simplify the management of cost reports and reduce errors by providing a streamlined method for handling filter logic.

Adopting a FinOps culture within a company involves more than just urging engineers to implement cost-saving measures; it requires fostering a culture of transparency and collaboration between finance and engineering teams. The article emphasizes that FinOps is fundamentally about culture and information sharing, rather than simply prompting engineering actions for cost optimization. It suggests that while engineers can be empowered by having access to cost data, the true challenge lies in building an open FinOps culture where such empowerment leads to meaningful action. This involves openly sharing spend data and context with engineers, debunking fears that transparency will distract them or lead to undesirable behavior. Additionally, establishing Working Groups composed of various team members can encourage ongoing collaboration and facilitate the sharing of successful FinOps practices across the organization. This approach shifts the focus from individual practitioners dictating optimizations to fostering an environment where teams collaborate for long-term cost efficiency and optimization.

Vantage has launched new Azure Cost Recommendations, allowing users with Azure connected as a provider to view suggestions for reserved instance purchases and unattached virtual hard disks, complete with specific details and projected savings. This update enables users to see Azure cost recommendations alongside their AWS and Datadog accounts, addressing a previous limitation where Azure-specific recommendations were unavailable on Vantage. The recommendations page provides detailed information, including affected subscriptions, regions, and instance types, with savings estimates generated immediately upon connecting Azure. While these recommendations are displayed in USD for consistency, there is no additional cost to access them, although free trial users may see obscured specifics. Currently, the recommendations are not integrated with the Autopilot dashboard, and while users cannot yet purchase reserved instances directly through Vantage, plans to enhance this functionality are underway.